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The only way people are

The only way people are going to see the benefits of going to a hybrid vehicle from a standard vehicle is to show it to them in dollar value. Currently if you add up the cost of a hybrid and compare it's counterparts cost (Prius/Corolla, Civic/Civic HB), the cost of a hybrid is more than a typical car. I have taken into account only a few small items, but it seems these are the most prudent; MSRP (yes I know that is not what I will pay), Average Mileage (Based on EPA Testing), repair cost, and curent fuel cost.

I have used the Prius and Corolla as the subject Matter. The Prius has an MSRP of $21,500. Its fuel cost over five years is $8,157. (Based the american average driving of 15,000m/yr, fuel economy of 46m/g) And an average repair cost of $718 over five years. There is not a tax write off any more because Toyota has exceeded the 60,000 production mark of the vehicle. That brings the total cost of the Prius to $29,065.

The Corolla has an MSRP of $15,250. Its fuel cost is $10,867 over five years (29m/gal). And an average repair cost of $680. The total cost of the Corolla is $26,792. The difference between the two is $2,273.83.

Current fuel cost here in Oregon is right around $4.20/gal which is higher than most of the country. For the hybrid to be a suitable choice for most people, since money is a prime factor in decision making, gas would have to be right around $7.00/gal. If the current market for Light Sweet Crude oil continuesto grow, I wouldn't be surprised if we see that price around Chrsitmas 2009. Hopefully, by them the US Dollar will have regained some stregth to give it more purchasing power.

I am not going to get into a discussion about the cost of a new battery system. Just like most batteries out there, they will need to be replaced. But, according to toyota they have had a failure rate on the batteries of .03, if I read the data correctly. The age of the cars is still to young to support any data on failure rate of the batteries. I would say ten years will tell the tale.

The price of gas has

The price of gas has exceeded $7/gal in Europe & Japan for more than a decade. The added cost of the hybrid drivetrain vs. fuel savings requires more than $10/gal to be economical. The simple fact is a smaller more efficient engine/car can save more fuel than the hybrid drivetrain, with lower costs (BTW, do we really need 300 HP sedans?). That's why you're seeing hybrids on larger more expensive vehicles, the relative cost of the hybrid drivetrian is smaller on more expensive cars. The true solution is an all electric vehicle. The complete conversion to electric power is only going to occur when battery power density improves to the point where people can drive 300 miles between charges - like their gas car or consumers won't accept it. In the short-term people will use electric cars as commuter cars (&lt;100 miles per charge) and hybrids - or rent gas cars for trips.

Regarding the Republican remark, I don't know why they're seen as not green. The difference is Republicans believe the free-market will develop solutions as gas gets more expensive. Dems believe the government should subsidize the direction and rate of progress, which hasn't worked in Europe. Europe has much worse emmision standards and terrible particulate pollution from deisel (read lung cancer) and $10/gal gas. Because of their taxes, they sacrifice polution for a few mpg's. Don't worry, oil will become far too expensive long before we overcook the earth. We'll need it for plastics, medicine, heavy transport and lots of other really useful things - not burning it to go to work.

In the meantime, if you want to reduce CO2 emissions and pollution here are a few ideas:
1) Don't buy anything from China, or undeveloped countries, they don't even attempt to do the right thing. They need serious help! We need to put a large import tax on anything from rouge economies to give them and our consumers incentive! But what about Wal-Mart's low low prices? Are they really low? No one talks about the real cost.... Will that be covered in cap & trade? or will China just make everything for the world, while we think we're doing the right thing?
2) Protest the fact that Indonesia puts more CO2 in the air than all of US transprtation every year when they burn their harvested crops and clear land. Add in Brazil and this represents over 20% of all manmade CO2! Outrageous that no one protests.
3) Recycle! One day we'll mine garbage dumps.
4) Promote nuclear & wind energy. Solar panels won't cut it for now. If you covered every roof in America with solar panels it wouldn't represent 10% of our energy use and would cost too much! In 10-15 years maybe.
5) Use wood products. It sequesters carbon and displaces products that would otherwise be made from plastic.

I think you may be confusing

I think you may be confusing it with the all electric car batteries. The older ones definitely gave up the ghost after 4-5 years because of the deep cycles. Newer ones are warranted for 7 or 8 years which is good for the consumer, but I will have to wait and see in real world testing if they in fact last that long.

Thanks ex-EV1! I will try to

Thanks ex-EV1! I will try to contribute more. I don't force anyone to check out our site, it's just good business practice.
I'm not some teen-age geek hidden away in his mom's house. I'm a 50 year old man who has loved cars all his life.
I have several businesses with employees. When I discovered this water hybrid technology, I was blown away- I couldn't believe our Auto Makers had not been putting these things in our cars by now.
I researched it thoroughly. I spent thousands of my own money determining if it really worked or if it was some great internet hoax.

Well, it did work. And people are using it around the world. It's saving them money, saving gas, and it cleans up the emissions to almost zero!

Isn't that what we are all trying to achieve here?

When someone asks a question about saving gas, or converting their old car into a hybrid - there are not too many solutions that are both practical and affordable. I want to help those people find a way like I did, that's all.

Water Hybrid Technology is fairly new, so I've taken it upon myself to shout it from the mountain tops, so to speak. People are hurting- budgets are tight and politicians are gutless.

This is a practical solution for a hundred bucks or so. Isn't that a better solution than $6000 more for a few MPG increase?

I have a Prius with 140k

I have a Prius with 140k miles and just had to replace the whole battery pack - I called several dealerships in the Seattle area and it costs between $4200 to $5000 to replace. When I bought the car they told me this would never happen as they could replace just the bad cell. I had 2 bad cells out of the total 32. They will only replace the whole pack. What also stinks about this is they only give you a 1 year parts warrenty on the new pack. Several other dealer ships had Prius in to replace their packs and mileage was around 138 k. With replacement parts that cost you $5000 you lose the benefit of the better milage. Don't buy one!